Julie Wadsworth: Ex-BBC presenter ‘stupid’ , but not predatory, says lawyer

A former BBC radio presenter accused of having sex with underage boys is the victim of "cheap" allegations that are "poisonous and untrue," her lawyers have claimed.

Julie Wadsworth, 60, and her husband and Tony Wadsworth, 69, are accused of encouraging seven boys to take part in sexual activity in woodland next to a golf course in Warwickshire between 1992 and 1996.

Mrs Wadsworth’s barrister, David Hislop QC, accused prosecutors of trying to portray her as "salacious and predatory", while, in reality, she was a "professional public figure".

Urging jurors to try her on criminal charges, rather than for her morals, Mr Hislop said she she had merely been "foolhardy" and "stupid" after being "flattered by the thought that young men found her attractive".

"Unless you are Joan Collins or the president of France it’s unusual to take a sexual partner half your age but it does happen."

While admitting some may find her actions "abhorrent’, he added: "The wisdom of her judgement or morality in the late 1990s is quite irrelevant," he told the court.

Summing up their defence, lawyers for both defendants addressed the jury at Warwick Crown Court, with Mr Wadsworth’s counsel accusing the prosecution of hiding the weakness in their case by likening the couple’s behaviour to "some seedy Soho club".

Mr Hislop accused the Crown of "scraping the bottom of the barrel" by using a charity calendar featuring Mrs Wadsworth posing as Lady Godiva to suggest her career was based "on the twang of a stocking".

He told the jury of five women and seven men: "This (the calendar) was obviously part of a PR machine that undoubtedly drove ratings.

"This, I suggest, is an intelligent and sensible view of what all those publicity photographs were about.

"Why are they trying to force us to have this rather jaundiced and tabloid view of Julie Wadsworth? I suggest that their reason for it is shortcomings in their evidence."

Barrister Michelle Clarke, representing Mr Wadsworth, said the calendar photoshoot had been sanctioned by the BBC, and amounted to Mrs Wadsworth wearing fancy dress at work.

Miss Clarke said one of the alleged victims had been allowed into the Wadsworths’ "private moment" in the deepest, most hidden part of a wooded area.

"They didn’t want to demonstrate in front of others like some seedy Soho club," the lawyer added.

(c) Sky News 2017: Julie Wadsworth: Ex-BBC presenter ‘stupid’ , but not predatory, says lawyer